a human being. He realized that the animal was
in a terrible state of apprehension and fear. He gave his master a look
that was both imploring and reproachful.

"'I have served you day after day and done your bidding,' he seemed to
say. 'Will you not follow me this one night?'

"The dean was touched by the appeal in the animal's eyes. It was clear
that the horse needed his help to-night, in one way or another. Being a
man through and through, the dean promptly determined to follow him.
Without further delay he sprang into the saddle. 'Go on!' he said. 'I
will not desert you since you want me. No one shall say of the dean in
Delsbo that he refused to accompany any creature who was in trouble.'

"He let the horse go as he wished and thought only of keeping his seat.
It proved to be a hazardous and troublesome journey--uphill most of the
way. The forest was so thick that he could not see two feet ahead, but
it appeared to him that they were ascending a high mountain. The horse
climbed perilous steeps. Had the dean been guiding, he should not have
thought of riding over such ground.

"'Surely you don't intend to go up to Black's Ridge, do you?' laughed
the dean, who knew that was one of the highest peaks in Haelsingland.

"During the ride he discovered that he and the horse were not the only
ones who were out that night. He heard stones roll down and branches
crackle, as if animals were breaking their way through the forest. He
remembered that wolves were plentiful in that section and wondered if
the horse wished to lead him to an encounter with wild beasts.

"They mounted up and up, and the higher they went the more scattered
were the trees. At last they rode on almost bare highland, where the
dean could look in every direction. He gazed out over immeasurable
tracts of land, which went up and down in mountains and valleys covered
with sombre forests. It was so dark that he had difficulty in seeing any
orderly arrangement; but presently he could make out where he was.

"'Why of course it's Black's Ridge that I've come to!' he remarked to
himself. 'It can't be any other mountain, for there, in the west, I see
Jarv Island, and to the east the sea glitters around Ag Island. Toward
the north also I see something shiny. It must be Dellen. In the depths
below me I see white smoke from Nian Falls. Yes, I'm up on Black's
Ridge. What an adventure!'

"When they were at the summit the horse stopped behind a thick pine, as
if t